What If?
by MiHnn
Summary: It takes courage to do what is not expected of you. (Harry X Hermione) - Seasonal One shot.


**A/N - I'm doing this thing this year where from the 1st - 25th of December I'm gifting fics to those who requests them. This was written for madderbrad.  
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**Prompt : _ "did you realise" - "yes I understood" - "why didn't you?" - "I wish I did_" (Based off the movie!dancing moment in DH1)  
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**What If?****  
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**.**

She found him sitting outside on the back steps of the Burrow wrapped warmly in one of Molly's sweaters. With a tired sigh, she joined him, letting her knees brush against his as they watched the light snowfall coating the night with white, and listened quietly to the lazy stream of music drifting from the Weasleys' kitchen. Percy had brought Arthur a new radio. Molly had insisted that they use it, at least once, before her husband dismantled it into a million pieces.

He glanced sideways at her before looking up at the sky. "That didn't sound pleasant." He had heard the argument through the thin walls of the Burrow. Harry was convinced that the neighbours might have heard it too.

Again, she sighed, her arm going around his while she snuggled against his side. "It wasn't." She leant her cheek against his shoulder as her gloved hand found his. "He said that if I don't want to stay in England, then I don't want to be with him." Her voice drifted off softly, her free hand pulling at a loose thread of wool from his sweater. "He says we should go our separate ways."

Harry squeezed her hand as he leant towards her. "He didn't mean that. It's Ron. Give him a few minutes to cool down and he will think straight again. Actually, just give him some pudding. That usually works faster."

Her laughter was soft, clear, and it made him smile.

"Thank you, Harry. You always know what to say to make me feel better."

"You're welcome, Hermione." His eyes sparkled with mischief as he looked down to meet her gaze. "You've trained me well," he said seriously.

Gasping in indignation, she pulled back only to shove him to the side. "Honestly!"

But he was too busy laughing to do anything more than to shove her right back, her own shoulders shaking while her cheeks flushed red in the cold. A sudden yell inside the house caused their grins to drop simultaneously. Harry's shoulders slumped as he listened to the familiar voice rant and rave inside the Burrow. He couldn't hear the words, but he could guess what she was saying.

Hermione watched him carefully. "Ginny?"

Another yell caused him to wince again. "Yeah."

She looked at him pointedly. "What did you do?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Why do you always assume that it's me?"

"Because as a member of the male species, you are programmed to disappoint those of the female species without even trying."

"I don't think that is a fair comparison."

She cocked her head to the side in question. "Fine. Tell me something, then. Was whatever that happened your fault?"

Harry looked away briefly. "That is hardly the point."

Hermione let out a small smile as she leant forward so that he couldn't avoid her. "What is the point, then?"

Her smile fell as he looked at her, his best friend with a light dusting of snow in her hair. "The point is…" He paused, unsure if she had heard at all. "She doesn't want me to leave."

Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "Leave? Where are you going?"

A nervous laugh escaped him as he shook his head and looked away from her. This was ridiculous. He hadn't been thinking. Not really. "I—" He was mental. He should have known better.

She nudged him, her eyes sincere. "Tell me."

He found the railing over her shoulder fascinating. "I put in a request for a transfer." At her silence, he continued. "They were looking for people to join your team." When she failed to say anything at all, he finally looked at her, dreading what he might see in her eyes.

Hermione's eyes are wide, her lips parted as if she had stopped breathing. "You're coming with me?" Her voice was whisper soft with a slight tremor at the end.

Harry shrugged casually. "Only if you'll have me." He nudged her gently when she didn't say anything more. "Hermione—"

"You can't," she burst out suddenly, her demeanour full of panic as she stood up and moved away from him.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh. Okay. Sorry. I thought…"

"You can't, Harry. You can't just sign up for a transfer. We'll be travelling, do you realise that? We'll be going from one Ministry to another, we'll be staying in different countries for months. For _months_, Harry. You can't just come. You can't just _do_that."

"Okay, okay." Standing up swiftly, he made his way towards her before grabbing onto her gently. Worried, he rubbed his hands up and down the length of her arms, wondering why she was so completely unhinged; wondering why her eyes were filled with tears and her breathing laboured.

"You can't come," she said again, her voice trembling. "You have to…" She swallowed while she fought back tears. "You have to stay."

Fighting all pretence, Harry pulled her towards him and circled his arms around her. Her head fit gently against his chest, her small sobs causing his chest to tighten. She didn't say anything more, her arms tightening around him and her fingers burring in his sweater.

Harry waited until she became quiet against him before he finally spoke. "Do you hear that? What an awful wizard version of 'Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer'. Umbridge would have loved this."

Her laugh was small and muffled against his chest.

Slowly, he swayed to the music, nudging her gently until he felt her move on her own accord. "You okay?"

She didn't say anything for a while, a small sigh escaping her as they rocked mildly to the music. "Do you think about what life would have been like if things had been… different?"

"How different?" he asked softly.

He felt her shrug lightly against him. "Different. Like…What if Voldemort never existed? What if there was no war?" She paused for a moment before mumbling, "What if Ron hadn't come back?"

It was an effort not to stop and look at her. It was an effort to keep moving. "Would that have changed anything?"

Hermione buried her face further into his chest, her breath shallow while her fingers twisted his sweater. "I don't know… Maybe."

Harry stopped moving, his eyes closing for a second as he contemplated his next words. "What has changed now?"

Hermione finally looked at him, her smile sad. "Do you remember when we last danced together?"

He felt his lips twist into a lopsided grin. "I remember."

"We were fighting for our lives—"

"Hiding from Snatchers and hunting Horcruxes—"

"Spending days walking, and more walking—"

"Reading books and drinking Polyjuice Potion—"

Hermione smiled. "Living in a tent." Her grin widened as tears started to pool in her eyes. "It has been four years."

Harry nodded sadly. "It has."

"You can't come, because if you do, it will be just like then. It will be you and me travelling alone."

"There will be other people."

"Not to me."

He knew he shouldn't push it, but Harry couldn't help himself. He looked at her seriously, his eyes studying hers for something he wasn't sure he would see. "What's wrong with that, Hermione? What's wrong with you and me being alone?"

"You know why that's wrong," she said shakily.

He felt how she tried to move away and tightened his hold on her. "Tell me."

"Harry—"

_"Tell me."_

She looked up at him reluctantly, her eyes wide and honest. They hadn't been this close since that fateful night. They hadn't been this alone since he had danced with her in that tent. Last time, he had forgotten himself and leaned towards her, this time, he let his arms go slacken around her. What he didn't expect was for Hermione to be the one to move that one-inch closer to him and capture his lips with hers. Harry exhaled against her in surprise, before his arms tightened around her once again and he pulled her towards him. It was a muddle of light, surface kisses, peppered desperately around the shape of her lips, her chin, her jaw, and deep, torturously long ones where her mouth opened under his and his tongue touched hers. His hands moved everywhere from her shoulders, to her waist, to her hips while her fingers trailed across his chest before deeply burring themselves in his hair. He had never felt so consumed with only one thought in his mind: how much he wanted her, how much he needed her, how much he _craved_her.

It was finally Hermione who pushed him away, her breathing just as ragged as his, her body shaking just as violently. "We shouldn't have—"

"No," he said unsteadily. He never wanted to do this. He never wanted to be _that guy._

"I'm with Ron and you're with…"

"Ginny," Harry said bitterly, his breathing still heavy. "I know."

She looked close to tears when she finally looked at him. "You can't come with me, Harry."

He felt his chest compress painfully at her words. He didn't think he could go back, now that he knew what it felt like to be with her, even if it was for a few seconds. He had been ignorant before tonight. "What if… there was no Ginny?"

Her eyes widened. "Don't be silly."

"What if there was no Ron?"

"Harry—"

He grabbed her hand before she could turn around and leave, his fingers tightening around hers in earnest. "What if this is not as complicated as we think it is? What if this is really that simple?"

"It's not," she said automatically, her tone betraying doubt.

"What if?" He pulled her closer, one hand rising to cup her cheek gently. "What if we spend the next eight months, just you and me…"

"And three other people."

He smiled. "And three other people, travelling and doing what we want to do?"

"We can't just do that. What you're suggesting... It's madness!"

Harry tightened his grip on her. "Do you think about me, when you're with him?"

She dropped her gaze from his, her cheeks reddening brilliantly and causing his heart to become lighter.

"I think about you." Her head snapped up as her eyes met his. "It's not fair to her. And if you think about me, you're not being fair to Ron either."

"I care about him," she said softly.

"I care about him too, as well as Ginny." He pulled her closer, his eyes studying her intensely. "It can just be you and me. Just like in that tent."

Her smile was small and pained. "I should have let you kiss me that night."

Harry let out a low breath, the corners of his mouth lifting into a small smile. "Yes, you should have."

"Why did it have to take so long, Harry?"

Unlike most other questions, he knew the answer to this. With a small smirk, he couldn't help but say, "You think too much."

She let out a small laugh before she pulled herself away from him. "We better get back inside."

Harry nodded sadly as he let her go and started with her to the door. They entered the Burrow together, with Harry placing a reassuring hand on the small of her back. It would take a while, but Harry had no doubt that this was the beginning of a change he had always wanted.

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_The End.  
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End file.
